In the course of manufacture of goods, it is often desirable to distribute a single lane of goods into two or more lanes to be packaged, crated or otherwise finished. It will be appreciated, however, that the process of dividing a single lane of product into two or more lanes is a potential trouble spot in a manufacturing line. It is desirable that dividing of the lane occur without a substantial decrease in the speed at which products are conveyed. On the other hand, the transition from one line to multiple lines must be effected smoothly, so as to minimize the risk of a stoppage due to failure of a product to negotiate the change in lanes successfully.
In the past, lane distribution mechanisms have included an upstream lane, two downstream lanes, and a mechanism to change the angle of the upstream lane in a region proximate the two downstream lanes so as to permit a movable end of the upstream lane to be positioned to feed into either of the two downstream lanes. Such arrangements, unfortunately, do not permit conveyance of the articles as quickly as desired without unduly increasing the risk of a blockage due to failure of the article to make the turn in the transition between the upstream single lane and the two or more downstream lanes.
APV Douglas (Alexandria, Minnesota) manufactures a lane divider which employs a servo motor to move a single set of swing arms to divide product into multiple lanes. The swing arms must move one complete width of the lane when it is desired to change lanes. In a modern manufacturing facility it is important to minimize strictly the time required to change the position of the movable region of the single lane since this requires a stoppage or slowing of the product.
The following U.S. patents illustrate various lane arrangements:
Ebira U.S. Pat. No. 5,174,430; Hartness et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,830,173; Pazdernik U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,715; Hartness et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,723,649; Focke U.S. Pat. No. 4,296,590; Kurczak et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,147,248; Fogelberg U.S. Pat. No. 3,830,359; Shuttleworth U.S. Pat. No. 3,822,006; Kurczak U.S. Pat. No. 3,599,789; Amenta et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,193,078; Koppel et al. U.S. Pat. No. 2,627,334; Lowe U.S. Pat. No. 2,451,104.
Stein U.S. Pat. No. 1,824,413 illustrates a double belt cigarette collector which includes a mechanism for seizing cigarettes and forwarding them at a given speed and delivering them to alternative separated positions, together with means for forwarding the cigarettes from the separated positions at reduced speeds.
Bauer U.S. Pat. No. 4,060,165 is directed to a diverter for distributing articles supplied in one line among a plurality of conveying tracks. The Bower apparatus includes lateral guides bounding a passage for the articles to be distributed, which guides are pivotable about a vertical axis disposed in their inlet region, and a switching gear which is rotatable about a vertical axis mounted on one of the lateral guides and which projects into the passage formed by the guides. The switching gear is advanced by one tooth by each passing article. A steering member is pivotably mounted on a crank driven by the switching gear and the other end of the steering member is pivotable about a stationary vertical axis so that the free end of the passage formed by the guides swings between the conveying tracks upon rotation of the switching gear. In FIGS. 3-7 showing successive distribution positions, both upstream and downstream lanes appear to change position.
The object of the Bauer patent is to provide a distributing apparatus having a high throughput and with which articles of any desired shape can be distributed without difficulty among a plurality of conveying tracks. In the Bauer apparatus the interpositioning of gearing causes the pivotable channel to be pivoted between the conveying tracks in such a way upon passage of each article that each conveying track has the same number of articles individually apportioned to it in a constant sequence. Tilting or jamming of articles is said effectively to be avoided and it is said that with the Bauer apparatus it has been possible to distribute over 400 glasses per minute from one line among two lines, which is indicated previously to have been impossible.